William Leeder – Torquay

November 2017

Sex offender failed to tell single mother about his past

A sex offender who failed to tell a single mother about his conviction has received a suspended sentence.

William Leeder is on the sex offenders’ register for life because he raped two girls aged eight and 12 when he was only 16.

He was sent to a detention centre for four years in 2000 and had not committed any offence of any sort since his release until he broke the terms of the registration order.

He started a relationship with a single mother from Newton Abbot who had children aged four and five but did not tell her about his previous conviction.

He broke the terms of the order by spending nights at her home and going on holiday to Butlins with her and her two children.

Leeder, aged 36, of Hele Road, Torquay, admitted five breaches of the register and was jailed for six months, suspended for two years and ordered to do 20 days’ rehabilitation activities by Judge Erik Salomonsen at Exeter Crown Court.